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New Wallace & Gromit Exhibition

Posted by (Preston UK) on

I am not sure how well known Wallace & Gromit are outside the UK but here they have been an institution for close to 40 years.

The Harris Museum in my home city of Preston has just undergone a major refurbishment and will open this Sunday with a new exhibition about the pair. Nick Park, the inspiration behind them comes from a couple of miles from where I live (I know a friend who was at school with him) and he will open the exhibition this Sunday. Tickets are sold out for that day but will be readily available for free for the rest of the run into the New Year with only a need to book at weekends.

Preston wouldn't normally be on anyone's list of places to visit but if you are interested it can be easily fitted into a visit to Northern England (and it is on the doorstep of some fabulous but under appreciated countryside). By car the M6 passes right by the city and the train station is a major stop on the London to Glasgow West Coast line.

https://theharris.org.uk/product/wallace-gromit-in-a-case-at-the-museum-exhibition/

Posted by
440 posts

I love Wallace and Gromit! Thanks for posting. Hopefully the exhibition keeps going and travels closer to London in the future when we will likely be back.

Posted by
35767 posts

I was surprised in the BBC coverage this morning just how small the models are (and how they work and what they are made of). My big fingers would would be no use to Aardman.

Good to see Nick Park.

Posted by
9864 posts

Love Wallace and Gromit. On a trip to the UK In the early 2000’s stopped in a Boots pharmacy. Discovered and bought a Gromit hot water bottle cover. Still have it. Still use the hot water bottle if I eat too many bell peppers!

Last year Wallace and Gromit images were projected onto the Battersea Power Station conversion. https://batterseapowerstation.co.uk/news/wallace-and-gromit-bring-christmas-cheer-to-battersea-power-station/#:~:text=This%20holiday%20season%2C%20Wallace%20&%20Gromit,the%20landmark's%20river%2Dfacing%20facade.

Posted by
102 posts

In a former life I worked in the buying office of a large UK high street chain store, now no longer in existence.
It rapidly became clear that Aardman Animation characters like Wallace and Gromit and Shaun the Sheep were really popular and if they were put on kids wear, lingerie, gifts etc it would sell and good sales were to be made. It was a buying no-brainer.....until we met our plasticine nemesis, Chicken Run. Based on the sales of previous ranges large amounts of stock was bought and it just sat there. I think it ended up at 90% off before vast quantities were sold off to traders.
There was much discussion in meetings about why it had been such a disaster. The answer came when a lowly member of staff asked the immortal question "Why would you want a plasticine chicken on your knickers?" A truly philosophical question that has stayed with me for 25 years.

Posted by
1860 posts

In 1997 my then 4 year old daughter named our first dog (a Rhodesian Ridgeback mix), Gromit. She was the dog with a soul. And yes, smarter than the humans. I hope they extend the exhibition. I can't get to England by January.

Posted by
733 posts

Emma, I love that story!

There was a nice (small) exhibition on The Wrong Trousers at the Cartoon Museum here in London last year, but I just checked and looks like it closed a while ago. Thanks for sharing info on the exhibition in Preston!

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